PlayStation Vita

Reviews

Blur - Review

Blurring the lines

The combination of Mario Kart style weaponry and fully licensed cars to be honest should not work! Its fact, the two just sound silly together. But what the developer Bizarre Creations has done is nothing short of genius.

If you played PGR 3 or 4 on the Xbox 360 then you'll already have an understanding of the how the cars will handle. For those who haven't well, you're missing out! The cars are fast and handle well, but it's the drifting I always remembered from PGR, which makes a welcome return in Blur.

True Muscle in Muscle cars

The weapons in Blur are very good too, and to class them as Mario Kart style is possibly a tad unfair, but it is the nearest comparison available. Granted some weapons are similar in effect - the Mine in Blur is a swirling ball that sits waiting for some hapless driver, much like the mario Kart Banana Skin!

As you start your Blur career you'll have one chapter open to you. But as you drift, draft and blast past your opponents the next chapters will become available. In Blur you're awarded Lights for coming in 1st, 2nd or 3rd. the more lights you have the sooner you unlock the later chapters.

Crowd pleasing

But to get at the new more powerful cars, you'll need to please the crowd! As you perform racing moves, attack and fend of foes you'll be awarded fan points. But that's not all, in the later chapters you'll see fan symbols littering the track. Once you've gone through the symbol you'll be challenged to fullfil a fan request be it driving through gates or taking out an opponent using the provided weapon, in return for a boost of fan points.

The single player is extremely solid, but it's the online mode really brings Blur to life. What you do in Single player doesn't carry over to the multiplayer, so you have to race harder to increase your level online to get at the better cars. Thankfully though Bizarre Creations gives you the option to race against people of a similar standard so if you're level 1-10 then that's the group you race with.

Hit 'em where it hurts

With up to 20 people in one race you will really need to keep your wits about you. The racing can be chaotic but highly enjoyable as you swerve other drivers and their power ups! Unfortunately more times than I care to mention I would get sent flying as I got hit by power up after power up. Which initially angered me to the point of not wanting to play, however, I stuck with it determined for vengeance.

One aspect of Blur that I really like is the Facebook and Twitter plug in. Increase the rivalry between you and your friends by posting certain achievements to your wall and wait for there comments, be it congratulations or smack talk.

What also makes Blur so enjoyable to play is the fact it looks so damn good! The cars are beautiful to look at, the power ups don't look silly or out of place and the menus are slick and easy to navigate. It really is a gorgeously presented game.

Blur was a bit of a dark horse, mixing two very different elements together, that on paper shouldn't work. But it does and very well at that. Blur is the type of racing game that I love, unpredictable! If you are a fan of arcade racers or want something different to get through the summer, then you should definitely check out Blur!